|
Kurdish groups asking
for a referendum to establishment an independent
Kurdish state in northern Iraq may form a party for
this purpose and run in the next elections planned
for the end of the year.
A New York Times article yesterday said Kurdish
groups in northern Iraq have been holding their own
unofficial referendum in tents set up near polling
stations in the region. The article claimed that if
prominent Kurdish parties fail in their efforts
toward independence, the reform movement in the
region might rapidly turn into a political party and
this party might compete in the elections that will
be held at the end of this year.
The article by former US Ambassador to Croatia Peter
W. Galbraith from Erbil (Arbil), noted that almost
all of the Kurds who voted on January 30th expressed
a preference for independence. Galbraith wrote that
these results were not welcomed by American and
British authorities and added: "None of the Kurdish
leaders view an alternative of becoming a part of
Iraq warm other than becoming independent."
Galbraith emphasized that despite this, Kurdish
leaders constantly voice what Americans want to
hear: "Iraq should remain democratic, feudal,
pluralist, and united." Kurdish groups have a
significant antipathy against Iraq, Galbraith
argues.
The Iraqi flag was banned from the region controlled
by the leader of Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)
Mesud Barzani where Arab members of the new Iraqi
army were barred and the opening of a ministry
office in Kurdish regions was not allowed.
http://www.zaman.com
Top |
® 